🤣

Can't hardly keep up with them, Pork. They've been signin' players, bringin' up players from the practice squad, just for a couple of injuries. They immediately wanted a wide receiver to replace Johnson, yet they like Pickens in the middle and on the flats but don't want to run him deep. Can't figure that. They need to really step up, run the **** ball, and learn to pass protect so Pickett ain't runnin' for his life every passing down. He hasn't figured out how to throw the ball away when he's in trouble, and he hasn't shown the Raven's Jackson's ability to take off runnin' when the pocket collapses. OTOH, the overall offensive game calling hasn't been NFL caliber. Time will tell.

EMitch
Can't hardly keep up with them, Pork. They've been signin' players, bringin' up players from the practice squad, just for a couple of injuries. They immediately wanted a wide receiver to replace Johnson, yet they like Pickens in the middle and on the flats but don't want to run him deep. Can't figure that. They need to really step up, run the **** ball, and learn to pass protect so Pickett ain't runnin' for his life every passing down. He hasn't figured out how to throw the ball away when he's in trouble, and he hasn't shown the Raven's Jackson's ability to take off runnin' when the pocket collapses. OTOH, the overall offensive game calling hasn't been NFL caliber. Time will tell.

This is a great point Mitch. I'm not sure why it seems that Pickett is not allowed to run. It's a massive strength of his. I'm not sure why they seemingly have a leash on it. 

DeadGator401
Here's a great analysis on the situation and answers the question of "Is it Pickett, or Canada?" - https://twitter.com/Sharp...us/1704877199377965107

Everything he is saying definitely has to do with who they played. They were forced to pass early against SF and really skewed their statistics.

That was one of Kenny’s strengths in college. Very much capable. He also had time then to go deep, which he was very good at and a great WR that helped his completion percentage. The past two games he only had enough time to see 2-3 of his pass options until he was running for his life. The “pass first then go” works best when you go through all/most reads or see an obvious clean running lane when early in the progression. I imagine they want him to do the first, but could see if they instruct him not to do the second. He should have a bit more time today and next week. Line should be gelled a bit more. They should do well today if they don’t get burnt by Maxx Crosby too often. I don’t think the rest of their defense is nearly as strong as Browns and definitely not as 69ers.

DeadGator401
Heh, kenny had some nice runs tonight. 2 back to back. 

The penalties were wild tonight. I've never even heard of a "Leverage" call. 

Solid win for the Steelers though. Canada even had a few good calls, assuming he still has duties. 

Refs seemed intent to put the Raiders back in the game. They could call that on every field goal or extra point. That roughing the passer call was complete garbage too.

I’d like to know what the correct route was on the almost interception that Connor Heyward was running up the field and Picket threw it 5 yards behind him almost directly to Peters. Either ran the wrong route or Pickett thought the route was different. Kenny looked like an average NFL QB. Which is better than the past two games. O line giving him time makes a huge difference. Ability to run the ball and play action was huge. Crazy that Raiders are struggling to run the ball. NFL rushing leader last year possibly the best WR to open things up.

Fine line between panic and season is over. Got to let the dust settle a bit to determine what it is for the Stillers. Texans should not look like the 49ers…. Kenny out, Mitch seems to be a carbon copy. Looks great at times then absolutely horrible. I have to imagine if they repeat this next week with Ravens, Canada has to be removed during the bye. See what this offense looks like next year with a completely new system.

Dust settled with Pitt. Season over.

No offensive line help and Kenny runnin' for his life. Again. But the play calling? If Najee gets stuffed 3 times in a row on the left side, why would they run the same play 3 more times? Isn't that the definition of being nuts? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. They did better in the second half, makes me wonder if maybe Tomlin started callin' the plays. At least I think he should have. Maybe he's just givin' Canada enough rope to hang himself and givin' the Steelers and excuse to replace him before midseason. But they gotta start winnin! Baltimore next week, I think.

EMitch
No offensive line help and Kenny runnin' for his life. Again. But the play calling? If Najee gets stuffed 3 times in a row on the left side, why would they run the same play 3 more times? Isn't that the definition of being nuts? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. They did better in the second half, makes me wonder if maybe Tomlin started callin' the plays. At least I think he should have. Maybe he's just givin' Canada enough rope to hang himself and givin' the Steelers and excuse to replace him before midseason. But they gotta start winnin! Baltimore next week, I think.

They made some sort of adjustment at half time.  If the adjustment was just challenging the O line and no actual scheme adjustment, it worked for a quarter.  I think getting Jones more reps at OT was a bit to do with it.  Not really sure why it took so long to put him in more, but I am not at practices.  Up until Canada decided to put Kenny in shotgun on 4th and 1 after they seemed to figure out how to rip run after run...  WTF???  I can see putting him in shotgun and running or at least play action.  Possibly one of the worst play calls of Canada's collection of horrible play calls.  Except for maybe the Kenny designed run in a similar situation.  
 
 
One quarter of quality play doesn't cut it though.  Both offense and defense.  The O line was abysmal for 3 quarters.  But showed promise of gelling.  Jones' draft profile was excellent, powerful guy that needs reps to solidify in pass protection, mauler as a run blocker.  Can't say it was just him in opening up the run game, but it was there in the 3rd quarter until Canada/Tomlin decided to stop using it.
 
Defense couldn't figure out how to stop the quick short passes.  3 years ago, Ben was lighting up defenses with the same thing, then was figured out.  EVERY defense played the same scheme to stop it once one figured it out.  As a defensive guru that was shown the scheme against your own team, how do you not at least try it?
 
I'm not completely giving up on the season, but if they refuse to make MAJOR adjustments next week and same results.  Lets just say that I will be fishing a lot more.
 
Thank you Nardookie for freeing up my Saturdays for fishing.  Maybe I will be able to score some free tickets to take my kid to a game, other than that I am am not even wasting another Saturday on that dumpster fire.

ICE NUT
Browns crying,Bengals really crying and well then there's the stealers.We do win in that we have the worst coaches in  and its time for a clean swap out!! Oh I forgot Pitt there another coaching disaster

Sad part is, Pirates ownership has won the worst of all professional sports!  I am sick of all of this winning...

We all saw that outcome…

Unfortunately, the defense, Pickens, Warren and special teams saved Canada’s job. Or, Baltimore’s WRs not being able to catch the ball more importantly. Pickett did enough to keep his job. He looked good when given time, O line needs to do better, but down two starters you really can’t give them too much grief. Jones will be starting OT from now on out. Herbig getting great playing time and if needed to stay in, will likely gel into a decent O line. Porter needs to be in the starting lineup. Imagine he will after bye.

DeadGator401
It's a weird feeling. 
I agree with you 100% - his job got saved by a single touchdown. Kinda wild, but also fitting. 

The defense deserves better. It's an absolute shame. 

Obviously, we don't know what's going to happen moving forward. But we can make educated guesses. Maybe 30 points one time in a game and somewhere between 8-9 and 9-8 most likely. 

From what I have heard, Pickett and Pickens went off script for that TD. Could be BS, but Canada looked mad when they cut to him.

Defense played like garbage for the first half though. If not for some drops on the Ravens end, Steelers lose that game and likely in the same fashion as the Texans/49ers. Second half the defense played inspired. Which they need to. There is much more money being spent on the defense than offense. When they had one of the top O lines in the NFL with Ben, Brown and Bell behind it, the amount of money they were paying on offense compared to defense was lopsided and guess which side struggled more then. Hopefully this O line can build some continuity. Just like last week, they struggled in the first half. Did well in the 3rd quarter (Harris last week, Warren this week). They need to be able to do that for more than a quarter though. Again, they do have two starters out and Daniels might be their best O lineman. There were a lot of other key players on the offense out. Not having Johnson and Freiermuth is huge. Austin missed most of the game too, which Kenny seemed to be developing some chemistry with. Kenny relying pretty much solely on another second year player with Robinson being slowly gaining his trust. Anyone here really trust Boykin or Gunner when you are passing into tight coverage? Could explain some of the non catchable balls to them, but on the money to Pickens. Those on the money balls to those guys are still 50/50 interceptions.

To me, that is where Canada and Tomlin are failing. There is enough game tape and practice reps to see what this O line does well at and where they struggle. Get the struggle stuff out of the playbook. Same thing with Kenny and receivers. Make your game calling to fit the players you have. Give Kenny the freedom to change plays at the line if he sees something.

Agree with the 8-9 or 9-8. Just hope they are in most games and can build off of it.

This team is just going to be aggravating to watch for a bit. We were saying the same thing here after Kenny’s second sneak. “If there is a third, they better not even think to do the same play”. Regardless if it was Canada or Kenny making that call, it was horrible. Both Najee and Jalen were doing fine in the second half. The O line was playing well (in second half). Lucky as heck they got away with that very generous spot. Canada isn’t going anywhere and just too hard to make a switch like that mid season. A win is a win in the pros. Rams at LA, having to make the trip is something Steelers typically stumbled with, even when they were SB level teams years ago. Rams were 3-3 with their best WR first game back. They have one of the best defensive linemen of all time. They aren’t a bad team by any means. Steelers have most of their salary cap in the defense, they should be winning games for them. Steelers decided to focus on defense years ago when Ben’s career was wrapping up and stuck him with a patchwork O line after their very good O line aged. If they would have went the route of rebuilding there instead of mid round selections and rebuilding through FA, Ben likely would have looked a bit better his final few years, but also likely still trying to play right now... Their OL is getting better. When given holes, Najee and Jalen are good backs. When given time, Pickens and Johnson can get open. If those guys are getting chunk plays, defenses have to adjust and opens up guys like Heyward and Robinson. Kenny is good enough to win if he has time, especially with the chemistry he has with Pickens and getting Dionte back. Even Canada’s horrible play calling works if the line is able to give time. Look at second half of season last year and the second half of this game. Still Canada’s playbook and play calling. Don’t get me wrong, not going to be KC or Phil level offense. But what their offense looked like in the second half is enough to win, if their defense plays like they do. Getting Freiermuth back will help too.

They need 3 more wins to have a "winning" season. Lookin' a little doubtful right now.  A Pittsburgh poll is nearly 55% in favor of Mason Rudolph for this Sundays' starter against Cincy. And they called my most hated play at least 3 times. 3rd & 11, 3rd & 12, and 3rd & 18, let's have the quarterback turn to the right, (at which time the eyes of every defensive player goes with him), throw the ball out there and make 2 yards, (or possibly lose 10 yards), then punt. Kenny won't look off his primary, and he either doesn't or can't read the field, and has to either throw it away or take the sack. Do ya think they need a new OC? Wait, what? Ain't gonna happen this year. I should have put the boat in and fished the river. Would've been time better spent.

Hammer drops on Canada...Matt that is.  Steelers fans get their wish.  We'll see if it changes anything.  
 
#Steelers QB coach Mike Sullivan and RB coach Eddie Faulkner will work together to assume the role as offensive coordinator following the firing of Matt Canada, sources say. This will be Sullivan's third time in an OC role, having done so with the #Giants and #Buccaneers.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) November 21, 2023